Amiram Goldblum

In 2017, Goldblum was a professor at the Institute for Drug Research in the Hebrew University School of Pharmacy.[3] By February 2020, he had taught and conducted medical research at the university for approximately 40 years and was working with students on a potential coronavirus drug.[6] In March 2020, he wrote that his research group had shifted to seeking drugs that could block the virus.[7] A 2023 profile identified him as a 77-year-old professor emeritus and chemistry researcher living in Tel Aviv.[1]

Goldblum’s laboratory developed its Iterative Stochastic Elimination algorithm over five years, applying it to the discovery of potential drugs.[3] The approach was first tested on problems involving protein structure and function and subsequently used to create models of small molecules’ activity on disease-associated proteins.[3] These models employ filters based on physicochemical properties to distinguish molecules with different levels of activity.[3]

A model could be built in hours and then screen millions of molecules in less than a day.[3] Predictions generated by the algorithm were tested by laboratories and drug companies in the United States, Germany, Japan, and Israel.[3] Its applications included identifying antibiotics and molecules that could block immune-system overreaction or inhibit cancer-cell growth.[3] The approach was used to shorten drug-discovery timelines from years to months or weeks, with candidate molecules sent to experimental laboratories for further development.[3] Goldblum received a 2017 Kaye Innovation Award for the algorithm.[3]

Goldblum was among the founders of Peace Now, established in 1978 as a movement advocating historical reconciliation with the Palestinian people on the principle of land for peace.[2] He served as its spokesperson for 20 years.[8] He later served on the New Israel Fund’s public council and was identified as a member of its International Council.[4][5] In a 2023 interview, he said he had left the Peace Now spokesperson position in 2001 but continued attending demonstrations and participating in political activity.[1] He also said he belonged to Shivyon, which he described as an organization working to prevent racism and apartheid in Israel.[1]

Recalling the 1983 Peace Now demonstration at which Emil Grunzweig was killed, Goldblum said he had walked in the front row with other demonstrators.[1] He explained that they walked close together because they feared violence and wanted to show strength, and that he had not been asked to lead the line.[1] He said he was already leaving to take writer Shulamit Hareven home when the grenade exploded, heard the blast, and returned to help.[1]

Goldblum distinguished the well-known photograph of the marchers from the moment of the grenade attack: in his recollection, the photograph was taken earlier and did not show the line at which the grenade was thrown.[1] He said publicity surrounding the photograph led to repeated attacks by Kahanists on his home in Jerusalem’s Baka neighborhood.[1] He recounted broken outdoor planters, his car being blown up, and the phrase “suppression of traitors” sprayed on the house; he said police protected the home and Peace Now members sometimes kept watch at night.[1]

Goldblum founded the Israela Goldblum Fund, which financed a 2012 poll published in Haaretz.[5] He was also identified as one of the poll’s commissioners.[9] Explaining his motivation at the time, he said, “We need to work quickly, before the danger of apartheid irreversibly takes over.”[9] Responding to the possibility of a competing survey, he said, “So let the right do its own poll to refute the results.”[9]

In 2014, he was among 363 Israeli public figures who signed a letter urging British members of Parliament to recognize a Palestinian state, including without a negotiated peace agreement with Israel.[10] The parliamentary vote on October 13, 2014, was symbolic and non-binding.[10]

The methodology of the 2012 poll drew criticism, as did its coverage and disputed institutional affiliations.[5][9] The original English Haaretz article connected the commissioning fund to the New Israel Fund, but a revised version removed that reference; the Hebrew version described the Israela Goldblum Fund as established in 2007 within Signing Anew.[5] NIF-Israel stated that Signing Anew was independent and unaffiliated with it, and that NIF was neither behind nor connected to the survey.[5]

In June 2019, Goldblum called Im Tirtzu student activists “Nazi dogs” online and wrote that he would photograph activists and publicize their names so teachers would know whom not to admit to advanced-degree programs.[4] Dozens of affiliated students filed a formal complaint; the university condemned the remarks and said its rector had told Goldblum he could not treat students that way.[4] Goldblum said he objected to the atmosphere created by the activists.[4] In a separate 2019 incident, he called soldiers involved in demolitions in Wadi al-Hummus “Jewish terrorists” and called for the home to “avenge its blood”; the university declined to comment on private statements outside the classroom.[8]

In February 2020, Goldblum called for armed Palestinian militias to protect villages and towns from settlers and said in a television interview, “Settlers are terrorists by definition.”[11] Facebook removed the post for violating its guidelines, two Im Tirtzu campus coordinators filed a police complaint, and the university declined to comment.[11] Separately, his proposal to quarantine several Haredi communities prompted the university to condemn his “embarrassing and racist statements.”[6] Goldblum defended his proposal as scientific rather than racist; in an opinion article, he argued that possible exposure involving South Korean visitors and worshippers at the Cave of the Patriarchs justified short-term preventive isolation measures.[6][7]

In July 2023, Goldblum’s denunciation of Knesset member Tzvi Sukkot included the phrase “one of the country’s enemies who should be eradicated.”[12] Sukkot rejected the remarks and urged people across the political spectrum to stop incitement while preserving criticism and disagreement.[12] Separately, Goldblum and two other interviewees recalled Tzachi Hanegbi being present with a group confronting the 1983 Peace Now marchers; Hanegbi denied being there with the attackers and said he had left before the demonstration began.[1]